Greipel returns to Australia ready to win

Columbia-HTC's Andre Greipel, the overall winner of the 2008 Tour Down Under, will be aiming for a repeat performance in 2010. After winning the Tour Down Under outright one year, then crashing badly in the same event in 2009, the Columbia-HTC sprinter recalled, "Last year I had some bad luck, although I did win the first stage. However, I don't expect to have that bad luck again. When I race, I'll definitely be thinking about 2008 more than 2009. Every race is different, but I hope I can win at least one stage."

Greipel's accident on the third stage of the Tour Down Under last January caused an old shoulder injury to flare up and he was out of racing for nearly four months.

Greipel's off-season training has consisted of "the same program as the last two years, both of which went very well for me."

In 2008, he won 15 races, and in 2009, despite his long spell out of racing, he won twenty. "The Tour Down Under in 2008 was the first time I could have real ambitions for myself, so it's a race I remember with a lot of affection. You could say Australia made me."

"It's a much more competitive event than it used to be. In 2008 the riders were still fairly relaxed but in its second ProTour year in 2009, even in the two stages I raced I could tell it was much tougher."

Greipel traveled to Australia on January 2nd, and after looking over the 2010 World Championships circuit in Melbourne, he and his Columbia-HTC teammates will head for Adelaide.

"Adapting to the time difference is crucial, but so is good training beforehand. Marcel [Sieberg] and I will be down for breakfast in the hotel at 6:00 a.m and out training at 6:30 in the morning to avoid the heat. I've found that's the best way to do it, and long-term it really pays off."